Brian's Big Monday

03/09/2016

J. L. Steele

Note From The Editor: This column was originally scheduled to run the week following the Atlanta race weekend. Due to technical difficulties (like, "Technically, Jim Is Sometimes A Moron), it was delayed until this week. Please take yourself back seven days, and enjoy. - Jim

Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a fantastic race on multiple levels. There were high hopes for the new down force package. By all accounts, it was a resounding success. The majority of the fans enjoyed the quality of racing and drivers raved about how enjoyable it was. The weather wasn't a factor like it often is at Atlanta's early season race. Although it was cool early in the weekend, rain was never a factor and the temperature remained comfortable on Sunday. The win was Jimmie Johnson's 76th career victory, typing him Dale Earnhardt. Sunday's race left fans and industry media with plenty of positives to talk about during the week. It wasn't to be however, and it's all thanks to Brian France.

On Monday afternoon at a campaign rally in Valdosta, GA, NASCAR's CEO and Chairman endorsed Donald Trump for president. Atlanta was all but forgotten. On a day when all the attention should've been positive and focused on what happened on the track, it was now negative and yet again, focused on something that had nothing to do with the actual racing product. Much has been said about who France is supporting. There have been countless comments about why it's alleged France endorsed Trump. Lost in the bigger picture is the fact that regardless of who the candidate is or what party they are a member of, as the top man in NASCAR, Brian France had absolutely no business publicly endorsing a candidate for president. It's one of those classic situations where the potential negatives far outweigh any positives.

NASCAR and the France family are no strangers to politics. Presidents and former presidents have visited NASCAR races over the years. First Ladies have been guests at the track as well. Presidential and Congressional candidates have visited races during election years. Several have even sponsored cars and trucks with the hope of getting their message out to potential voters who are race fans. The France's have a history of donating to candidates. Unfortunately, much has been said this week about Bill France and Bill France, Jr. supporting George Wallace in the 60's and 70's. Never mind the fact that the landscape of the sport was vastly different then or that Wallace later renounced and apologized for his stance on segregation. The past few days have been a chance to throw gas on this fire and both fans and media members have done so. Unfortunately, it was the leader of the sport who lit the match.

Like any other American, Brian France has the right to support any candidate he chooses. That doesn't mean he has to stand on stage and publicly endorse one the day before the Super Tuesday primary elections. The problem lies in the fact that he isn't just Brian France, a Republican voter. He is Brian France, the Chairman and CEO of a major American sport. Additionally, it just so happens to be a sport that has tried for several years to prove it is inclusive to all people, drivers and fans alike, regardless of skin color or political party affiliation. By endorsing a candidate for president, Brian France did great damage to that attempt in the eyes of many.

No sport wants to intentionally alienate fans, potential fans and their money. Every sport is fighting for television ratings, ticket sales and merchandise sales. The public has no idea who Rob Manfred (MLB), Roger Goodell (NFL) and Adam Stern (NBA) support in this year's presidential election. That's exactly how it should be. It's not a matter of whether or not they support or don't support a candidate fans are voting for. It's simply a case of keeping politics away from their sports in the eyes of the public. Obviously, not everyone in NASCAR supports Donald Trump. In the eyes of many, this is seen as NASCAR endorsing a candidate even though that's not the case. Even so, the move should never have been made by France.

The Rooney family has owned the Pittsburgh Steelers since their inception in 1933. Principle owner and Chairman Dan Rooney publicly supported Barack Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. That didn't please every Steelers fan. However, there wasn't a public outrage. Any outrage that might have resulted was only going to hurt Rooney's investment, not anyone else's. If a Sprint Cup team owner decided to publicly endorse a candidate, again, any repercussions felt will be felt by his investment, his race team. Brian France is essentially the face of an entire sport. There was simply no good reason for him to do what he did in Valdosta on Monday.

If for some unexplained reason, France felt like this was something he absolutely had to do, why do it Monday? Why intentionally take away from all the positive news that resulted from the Atlanta race? Trump was already leading in all the major polls. It's not as if Brian's endorsement helped swing a state to Trump that was previously undecided. Again, the point isn't who he endorsed, it's the fact that NASCAR's "boss" took a totally unnecessary risk by doing what he did. There was and is absolutely no upside to that move. He angered supporters of other Republican candidates. To many Democrats, he helped reinforce stereotypes they already held about the sport.

Did Brian France endorsing Donald Trump cause fans or potential fans to swear they'll never watch a NASCAR race again? Perhaps just a very minuscule number. Did it cause any voters or potential voters to decide who they were going to vote for? That number is probably smaller than the number of those who say they won't watch another NASCAR race. What Brian France did do however, was to take an entirely positive weekend of racing at Atlanta and cause it all to be forgotten within hours. That's something a a CEO should never do to his organization.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Race Fans Forever are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of Race Fans Forever. Race Fans Forever is not affiliated with NASCAR or any other motorsports sanctioning body in any form..